2019 is here and all the resolutions are flying by fast. Here’s the thing, although I’m a registered dietitian I don’t do diet challenges. The new year should be inspiring - no fat shaming here. And if you’d like to use this month to incorporate some healthy lifestyle changes – I’m all for it. But we’re not going to count calories, here are three things that you can do right now that don’t include a diet.

Add one fruit and vegetable serving to your diet daily. While on the surface this seems like a small change, it can have a big impact on your day. Most people don’t get the recommended daily allowance of fresh fruit and veggies daily. And it’s such an easy fix with so many benefits. We’re talking more vitamins and minerals for your body and low calorie but high impact fuel for your day, baby! Whether it’s a handful of berries on your hot cereal, chopped spinach mixed into your pasta or just an orange as a snack it’s an easy way to improve your diet with minimal effort.

Take a 30 minute walk this week. In a world of Spartan races, Pilates and PX90’s the idea of taking a stroll to stay fit seems a little anti-climactic. But it works for a reason. There’s no equipment needed meaning no excuse not to do it. And the benefits are great not just for your body but for your mind too. Take a break, enjoy the scenery and even better, make a date to walk with a friend. This a recharging activity anyone can do. If you’re a diehard athlete, turn it into a cool down activity or ramp it up into a short hike. And if you wish you were more active this is a great place to start.

Get 30 minutes more sleep tonight. You’re doing too much! Work, kids, house, and family commitments make life so hectic. And while you’re busy checking everything off your to-do list the first activity that gets sacrificed is sleep. Lack of sleep has been linked to higher incidence of heart disease, depression and lowered immune function. Give yourself a gift that can improve so many facets of your daily life – go to sleep just 30 minutes earlier.

2019 should be about being your best you. And incorporating these three simple things is a great place to start. If you’d like more straight forward but more personalized advice, contact me today to get some targeted solutions.

​During the holiday season there are yummy treats and festive indulgences around every corner. It’s expected that we indulge but then the New Year arrives and panic sets in. Switching gears and looking for a fast fix to lose the weight is a common response to holiday weight gain. And a major trend/fast fix that I get asked about constantly is the Keto Diet. So, let’s do some myth busting and find out if this could be the right plan for you. Myth #1Myth: Carbs are the source of all weight gain, so if I cut out the carbs on Keto I’ll drop the weight. Fact: Carbs by themselves do not make you gain weight, calories do. If you eat too much of anything, it’ll cause weight gain. And while cutting refined/unhealthy carbs and those that are high in sugar is a positive way to improve your diet. There are many healthy unrefined “good” carbs that you should still be incorporating into your daily diet like whole grains, nuts, seeds, vegetable and fruits.Myth #2Myth: Keto diet helps me lose weight fastFact: Keto helps you lose water weight in the beginning. So, while you may see a dramatic drop in the first few weeks, it’s likely that it’s not permanent. Add to that you may not be losing fat, you could be losing muscle. Myth #3Myth: Staying on the Keto diet is a manageable lifestyleFact: The Keto diet consists of an ultra-low carb diet of less than 30 carbs per day. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that carbohydrates make up 45 to 65 percent of your total daily calories. That means anywhere from 150gm + carbs per day. The Keto diet is unsustainable for most people because its severity makes people go off and on the diet resulting in yo-yo dieting which can wreak havoc on your metabolism in the long term.

Conclusion: The Keto diet might be a fast fix, but it’s not a smart one because in addition to the above myths I’ve just smacked down… I haven’t even touched on the dangers it can have given someone’s individual health history.There is a famous vegan cardiologist that suggests that one should only go on a Keto diet if weight loss is more important to the individual than his/her long-term health. And to me, that is not an acceptable risk. There is no one-size fits all weight loss solution, no matter what an informercial or book says. Confused what to eat? You’re not alone. The best way to figure out a permanent way to incorporate a healthy lifestyle is to talk to someone about what YOU need. Not a trend or a fast fix. When you’re ready for some down to earth, medically sound advice with someone who can diagnose what’s best for you, with you… then I’m here to help.

Hey Guys. Long time no hear from me. Sorry about that. I am studying to become a Certified Diabetes Educator. Once I past that difficult test, I will be back to sharing loads of nutrition information via this blog. For now, let's have a quick chat about migraines.

When it comes to nutrition, there are several foods that can trigger symptoms. The best thing to do is to work with a registered dietitian nutritionist and go on an elimination diet to figure out what those foods can be for you. No time for that? I hear you. A well studied mineral that chronic migraine sufferers may be deficient in is Magnesium. Therefore, a good first course of action may be to start taking 400 mg of Magnessium Citrate daily. If things do not improve, it may be time to call a pro.

I used to be a personal trainer. I should adore gyms. Unfortunately, I have little love for them. It’s not that I don’t like group classes or enjoy all of the equipment that a gym provides that my house simple does not. A good TRX band workout starts my day off right. I just simply can’t engage in regular physical activity if there are any barriers between getting that activity done. I already have two small kids under 5, two dogs, two jobs (why must everything be in pairs?) and I am the primary parent in our household. Unless a gym were to move next door to me, then any gym is too far away. I don’t have the luxury of driving anywhere while having to allot time to: 1) park 2) Change into my gym clothes 3) Stuff my belongings into a grimy communal locker 4) Walk around the gym looking for all the equipment that I want to use while hoping some meat head hasn’t decided that he is owning that piece for the next 45 minutes ​5) Do my workout. Then I need to make sure I have time to either: awkwardly take a shower in the public bathroom in my flip flops only to have to come out and share a bench with some stranger while I dress OR commute back to my house and get my car sweaty so that at least I can shower in peace.

Also, having to be anywhere on time is a major struggle with two small kids. I am a type A personality that was always the person arriving to an event with 5-10 minutes to spare. Now I am constantly arriving places late, with unbrushed hair that I have pulled into a sloppy top knot, with one child who has had two meltdowns in the last 10 minutes and one child that has already peed through two pants and undies even though she has only been awake for an hour. How the heck am I supposed to make it in time to do a popular yoga class at a gym? The whole workout would barely undo the stress of getting there.

Yet, I am still a huge fan of doing something physical every day. Monday through Friday I set my alarm to ring an hour before my kids wake up so I can do 30 minutes of some type of workout (it takes me about 25 minutes to get out of my sleep stupor in the mornings). Some days I can only squeeze in a good 15-20 minutes because one of my demanding children (or both) can sense that I am trying to get something productive done for myself and starts screaming that they need to get up. On the weekends, I try to get an hour of something done in one day and I make sure that I have a rest day. I am flexible with myself on the weekends, though, since I am pretty strict with myself during the week. It has taken me a long time to figure out a routine that works for me, but I have managed to find it with some patience and self-forgiveness. I am sure that all of us have our perfect routine out there somewhere. On your journey to find yours, ditch the gym (unless it is already working for you), and you will likely figure out your particular recipe of weekly physical activity.

​Does that surprise you? Did you think I was going to say “eat your vegetables” or “exercise daily” or even “get a good night’s rest”? Although I am a fan of these good health tips, the single most important thing that we are not doing for our health is cooking our own food. I get it. As Trevor Noah would say on The Daily Show, “Ain’t nobody got time for that”, but really it is something we should make time for. I am not going to say you need Top Chef level skills to keep it interesting. Some basic cooking skills that can be acquired through youtube or a google search of “how to make the perfect ‘fill in the blank’” would suffice. We are living in the golden age of free content. The world is or web wide oyster, why not take advantage of that?

I am sure you are thinking again, “ain’t nobody got time for that”, but really, it doesn’t have to take that much time. Just think of it as a rearrangement of your time. Instead of having to ask yourself 3 times a day “what I am going to have at my next meal?” you decide all these things ahead of time. You make a list and batch cook for the whole week, hell you can even do this for the whole month if you have a freezer deep enough. How much easier is it to defrost something that you made awhile back versus having to wait for food each time you want it or having to take extra market trips during the week?

It’s not all about time though, this is really about your health. When you cook you can control what goes into your food. If you are trying to watch your waist line, you can always use less high calorie ingredients. A restaurant doesn’t care about keeping you at a healthy weight. They care about you coming back and an easy way to do that is to hook you on copious amounts of sugar and fat that can be unnecessary to a dish. With a basic understanding of food chemistry, or internet availability, I promise you can make your favorite dishes in healthier, lower calorie versions, saving you not only cash but potential health problems in the future.

I don’t want you to think I hate restaurants though. I love me some date night where I can go to the nearest hot spot and order something I might be too intimidated to cook on my own. I live the San Francisco Bay Area for peet’s sake and I definitely take advantage of that. However, a Tuesday night is not a typical date night for us. A Wednesday lunch doesn’t have to come with a blooming onion. If every day you have your favorite “cheat” food that what makes that day special? Think about this and the next time you see a cooking segment on TV maybe you will pay more attention and your health care budget will thank you.

So this is happening. I am joining the blogosphere, as they call it. I would like to take this time to introduce myself and explain why I think you should spend some time following my blog. I really do hope that you get something out of this.My name is Diana and I grew up and currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I spent my 20's living in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara (go gauchos baby!). My parent's are both from Portugal. While living in LA, I was a personal trainer and also worked as a waitress/bartender in fine dining. I have always been interested in health and food, so going back to school for a Master's in Nutrition to become a registered dietitian nutritionist was a no brainer. I now am married with two kids and I work part-time at a local hospital. At this hospital I noticed that no matter what nutrition related ailment a patient might have, their weight was a contributing factor to their overall health. This realization has driven me to create a private practice of my own with the primary focus of achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. So why do a blog you ask? Well, having spent as long as I have in school, going through an internship and then studying for months to be allowed by the state of California to practice medical nutrition therapy, I get annoyed when people put out false information about nutrition. It's a young science, I get it. Because of this things are constantly changing and advice becomes confusing. That is why I am here. I hope to help you make sense out of all the chatter. Stay healthy my friends,Diana